Aptos students captured first place in the 2022 National Ag Day poster and poetry contests, sponsored by the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau and Agri-Culture.
Finola McMenamy
Finola McMenamy, 4th grade, St. Abraham’s Classical Christian Academy in Aptos, won the poster contest for grades K-6. Her colorful artwork depicts crops grown in the county, strawberries, grapes and apples, pumpkins, lettuce and broccoli, with a farmhouse, a white picket fence, a pond with cattails and a sleeping cow.
Second: Sophie Rose Liu, 5th grade, Mar Vista Elementary, Aptos.
Third: Giuliana Espinosa, 5th grade, Holy Cross School, Santa Cruz
Honorable Mention
Daisy Coonerty, 5th grade, Holy Cross School, Santa Cruz
Veronica Fine, 6th grade, Mountain Elementary School, Soquel.
Dakota Grover, 2nd grade, Mountain Elementary School, Soquel.
Elle Huerta, 5th grade, Holy Cross School, Santa Cruz
Jack Izzo, 1st grade, Moreland Notre Dame Catholic School, Watsonville
Scarlett Pagano, 2nd grade Mountain Elementary School Soquel.
Sara Stark Weather Larolette, 3rd grade, Mountain Elementary School, Soquel.
Claire Weaver, 5th grade, Mar Vista Elementary, Aptos
National Ag Day Poetry Winners
Kayla Kalenda
Kyla Kalenda, sophomore at Aptos High School, won the poetry contest for grades 7-12, with a piece titled “Grown.”
Second: Ian Elliot Burchell, 8th grade, “Gotta Gobble Great Greens,” Creekside School, Santa Cruz
Third: Eric Magallon-Cacho, 12th grade “Fruit of our Labor” Pajaro Valley High School, Watsonville
Honorable Mention
Grace Annabella Paul, 11th grade, “Year After Year,”
St. Abraham’s Christian School, Aptos
Victoria Ayala, 12th grade, “Flourishing in our Agricultural Community,” Pajaro Valley High School, Watsonville
Cooper Brownlee, 11th grade, “Seasons of Farming,”
St. Abraham’s Christian School, Aptos
Destiny Castrejon, 12th grade, “The Appreciation,”
Pajaro Valley High School, Watsonville
Fatima Diaz Campos, 12th grade, “Harvest Cheer,”
Pajaro Valley High School, Watsonville
Rachel Gonzalez, 12th grade, “Crop Poem,”
Pajaro Valley High School, Watsonville
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Top Photo: Finola McMenamy’s winning poster